Services
- Potato Breeding
The Rhinelander Agricultural Research Station is home to the Wisconsin State Potato Breeding Program and is used primarily for potato variety development and seed potato production. We provide the staff for hybridization, planting in both greenhouses and fields, pesticide and fertilizer applications, harvesting, data collection, and testing.
UW Potato Breeding Main Page - Forestry
Forest plantations and native timber stands are used for forestry research and breeding. - Bioenergy
We support the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center [GLBRC] with investigations of native grasses used for bioenergy.
GLBRC Main Page - Flowers
With the collaboration of the West Madison Agricultural Research Station, we support and supply the resources necessary for a comparative study of the vase life of cut flowers grown in the hoophouse versus the field with treatments of both an organic fungicide as well as a growth regulator. - Soil Science
With the collaboration of the Arlington Agricultural Research Station, we support the research of surveying the diverse soils of Wisconsin to compare standard soil pH and in situ soil pH, as well as the comparison of the correlation or influence of these measurements on soil microbial community compositions. - Drone & Weather Station
We support Michigan State University and their Enviro-Weather Station Network, as well as drone usage, for agricultural research. - WI DNR
We support Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources logging operations and water usage strategies to drive sustainability and compliance.
Resources
- Headquarters
The two-story headquarters building includes a conference room large enough for 50 persons, various offices, and a laboratory. - Laboratory
The laboratory in the RARS Headquarters building plays host to numerous laboratory tools and resources, including a dehydrator, refrigerator, laminar flow hood, as well as various scales and microscopes. - Headquarters Storage
The lower-level of the headquarters building contains two sizeable walk-in coolers available for conducting various storage research. - Greenhouses
RARS has six unheated greenhouses, totaling 13,000 square feet used for a combination of hybridization and seedling tuber production. Greenhouse 4 remains the only temperature-regulated greenhouse and serves as a critical growing environment for tuber indexing operations from December through April. - Workroom
RARS has work room facilities to provide the ability to perform post-harvest quality evaluations [defects, dry matter, cooking, and color], seed organization, pollen and true potato seed extractions, and seed shipping. - Storage
RARS features a state-of-the-art storage facility for storing up to 2500 hundred-weight of potato seed. - Tractors
John Deere 6400, John Deere 6410, Massey Ferguson, JD lawn tractor
Currently testing: 2 Case International Harvester tractors, 2 New Holland tractors - Station Tillage Equipment
Tandem Disc Harrow, chisel plow, rollover plow, culti-packer, wind rower, 12’ field cultivator, 12’ flail shredder - Planting and Harvest Equipment
Grain drill, 2-row pull-type potato planter, 3 point 4-row potato hiller, 2-row pull-type potato harvester, 2-row level bed potato lifter [available with and without coulters], 3-point 1-row bed lifter, 1-row potato harvester - Sprayers
Gallenberg 600-gallon pull field sprayer, FMC 300-gallon pull field sprayer, single boom, E-Z reel with irrigation hose - Irrigation Equipment
Zymatic, Reinke, Lockwood irrigation systems